It started as a post-breakup drive to win a battle of the bands competition against an ex-boyfriend. It led to Beach Bunny performing across the country and hosting a musical festival in its hometown of Chicago.
And now the band is bringing its indie pop to Tucson for the first time. Beach Bunny's "Tunnel Vision" tour with The Beths pulls into the Rialto Theatre on Saturday, Aug. 1.
Singer-songwriter Lili Trifilio started Beach Bunny as a bedroom-based solo project in 2015, releasing the EP “Animalism.” She expanded it into a band in 2017.
“There was this opportunity to do a battle of the bands, so I kind of needed more members to enter,” Trifilio said. “My boyfriend had just broken up with me, and he was also doing battle bands. So pressure was on to find a band, and there was a competitive streak in me.”
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The band went on to explode in popularity when its single “Prom Queen” went TikTok viral in late 2019. Beach Bunny's “Cloud 9” also went viral in 2021.
Beach Bunny brings its "Tunnel Vision" tour to Rialto Theatre on Saturday, Aug. 1.
Trifilio said the band's performances have grown with its discography.
“In the early days, it was very much like, ‘OK, this is every song I've ever written so we better play all of them’,” Trifilio said. “Actually, seeing people's faces and seeing people sing the words is so meaningful.”
Despite the band's love of performing live, Trifilio makes it a priority to set aside time for her No. 1 passion, songwriting.
The band’s latest album, "Tunnel Vision," showcases how Trifilio’s life translates into her lyrics.
“I was going through a lot of like mid-20s, quarter-life crisis kind of energy,” she said. “All the songs center around that, and my relationship with myself, where like the other records really center around relationships with other people.”
The sound of the new album takes a darker turn compared to the band's previous energetic, power pop sound.
“I was writing a lot of things that matched the energy of the lyrics, so it ended up going a little bit darker and more dreadful,” she said.
Trifilio said this tour will help the band connect with fans in cities it has yet to play, including Tucson.
“We are hitting some spots that I would say we normally don't hit,” Trifilio said. “We're always rolling through Phoenix, but it'll be cool to connect with people that are just a little bit farther away.”
New Zealand indie rock band The Beths opens the show. The two groups met at Beach Bunny's Chicago music festival Pool Party. Trifilio said she looks forward to growing closer with the group and colliding their worlds for the tour.
“I'm really hyped to watch their set every night, and I think I'm going to leave the tour feeling very inspired,” she said.
Beach Bunny opened its tour in Chicago Wednesday and will crisscross the country. The tour will last a little over a month, jampacked with cities across the United States and ending with a stadium show in Toronto on Sept. 11.
Saturday's concert at the Rialto, 318 E. Congress St., begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $43.50-$75.80 through rialtotheatre.com.
